IS IT TRUE MARCH 22, 2017

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IS IT TRUE That the Growth Alliance for Greater Evansville has hired its sixth person to serve as president and CEO in its ten years history?…the new leader of the often embattled organization is named Ellen Horan?…Ms. Horan came to Evansville as a trailing spouse when her spouse took an executive position at Accuride?…Horan most recently was employed as president and CEO of the Greater Reading (Pennsylvania) Chamber of Commerce and Industry until late 2015 when she came to Evansville with her husband?…as a well educated professional and a trailing spouse, we are glad to see her find a position in Evansville that may utilize both her experience and education?

IS IT TRUE we are hearing that a member of the Vanderburgh County Commission has been pushing members of the County Council to join her effort to combined both governmental office into one common area?  …she have been told several times by leadership of the County Council that they aren’t interested in consolidating both offices?  …we have been told that preliminary plans have been drawn for this project? …we also have been told that the cost to combine both county offices could be around $500,000?

IS IT TRUE during the early years, the Veterans Memorial Coliseum was the place where the best entertainment occurred. This included hosting car shows, the Shrine Circus, and Evansville College used to play its basketball games there. Once Roberts Stadium was built in the fifties, the Coliseum lost some of its appeal and it closed in 1969. The Coliseum that was built by the city and was given to Vanderburgh County around this time. During the waning years of not being in use, the Coliseum deteriorated until the Veterans Council of Vanderburgh County took it over and started to renovated the building.  …we want to thank members of the Veterans Council of Vanderburgh County for saving this historic landmark from the wreaking ball?  …we resent that a couple of our elected officials tried to meddle in the daily business activities of the Veterans Memorial Coliseum?  …we are pleased with the way that Veterans Council of Vanderburgh County Commander Mark Acker and his staff are running this facility on behalf of the taxpayers of this community?  …we would like for the person that demanded that Commander Acker hand over the keys to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum to  him please go and hide under a rock?

IS IT TRUE that Forbes Magazine has released it’s list of the 15 fastest growing cities in the United States for the period from July 2014 – July 2015?…there are some cities that are having some explosive population growth and the top two literally grew by more people than are in the City of Evansville in a single year?…Dallas and Houston both in the State of Texas grew by more than 120,000 people in a single year?…back before 1900 Evansville was larger than both Dallas and Houston, neither of which has any physical asset that compares to the Ohio River?…we don’t know what they are putting in the water to have an economy that can attract that many people but the low levels of regulation and high self esteem that Texans seem to have must be responsible for these population explosions?…other cities on the growth list were San Antonio, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Miami, Tampa/St. Pete, and Seattle?

IS IT TRUE that this week is the 50th anniversary of the North High School Indiana State Basketball Championship that happened in 1967?…that is a good memory from childhood and it was a time when Evansville was a much more happening place than it is today?…a little known fact is that the Harrison Warriors that year had two players who went on to play for Jacksonville State?…the star of that Jacksonville team was future NBA star Artis Gilmore who led Jacksonville and the two stars from Harrison to the NCAA championship where the lost to John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins?

FOOTNOTE:  Today’s “Readers Poll” question is: Should the Vanderburgh County Council approve the spending of $500,000 to combined both county offices into one business pod?

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9 COMMENTS

  1. One way you can make Evansville grow would be to legalize marijuana, our mayors have been able to do many things most citizens think are illegal , so I bet legalizing mj would be a piece of cake

  2. I thought combining offices was supposed to save money. Cheryl has really changed first firing a young professional now this.

  4. Harrison 1967? Big whoop, NOT! The Editor must have been a Harrison grad. He conveniently forgot about Bosse and Larry Weatherford in 1967. You remember don’t you? You remember the Bosse team that beat Harrison in the afternoon game of the Evansville Sectional and then had to play North in the Championship game on scant rest a few hours later? The Bosse team that beat North during the regular season? Truth be told. Bosse should have won the Evansville Sectional and then gone on to win State. The IHSA stopped having teams play 2 games in the same day shortly after that occurred.
    And you remember Larry Weatherford, the Parade All-American who went on to lead and star at Purdue before Bob Ford artived?

    • Thanks for the additional information. Point well taken.

      Thanks for reading the CCO and your valuable impute.

      Editor

  5. There is an excellent letter to the editor in today’s Evansville Courier&Press (3-22-17) titled “EVSC spending is questionable.” It is evident that the author Jerry Clewlow has his finger on the pulse of the school corporation. It is to our shame that such people never seem to find their way on to the board of trustees of the corporation.

    I am re-posting the legal notice below in support of Mr. Clewlow’s letter, and in the hopes that citizens will make the connection between an organization that consumes over half of the property taxes paid in Vanderburgh County, and local taxpayer’s struggles to hang on to enough of their money to fix up their homes, get a newer automobile, or keep the family clothed and food in the pantry, and of course to build some emergency savings into the family budget.

    _____

    Notice of Adoption of Preliminary Determination

    Notice is hereby given pursuant to Indiana Code 6-1.1-20-3.6 that the Board of School Trustees of Evansville- Vanderburgh School Corporation did, on July 7, 2008, make a preliminary determination to enter into a lease or leases and issue bonds for the construction of e new high school and new middle school on the north side of the school district, including the purchase of real estate; the renovation of Glenwood Middle School, Lincoln Elementary School, Lodge Elementary School, Plaza Park Middle School, Highland Elementary School, Stockwell Elementary School; and the renovation and improvements to Cedar Hall Elementary School or in the alternative the construction of a new K 8 building and the renovation or construction of facilities to be used as an alternative education facility and an information systems building (the “Project”).

    The lease or leases and bonds will be for a maximum term of 23 years with a maximum annual lease rental of $19,755,OOO. The maximum annual lease rental has been estimated based upon an estimated principal amount of bonds of $149,000,000 and estimated interest rates ranging from 4.8% to 6.0% and total interest costs of $131,525,479.

    The School Corporation’s current debt service levy is $3,718,986. and the current debt service rate is .0453.
    After the after the school corporation enters into the proposed lease and the bonds are issued, the maximum debt service levy will be $20,755,000 (a maximum increase of $17,036,014) and the maximum debt service rate will be .1336 (a maximum increase of .0883); however, as principal on other obligations is retired, the principal for this Project will replace it to maintain substantially equal payments in the aggregate. For the portion of the Project which consists of a new school facility, the school corporation estimates it will incur annually $1,099,387 to operate those facilities.

    The purpose of the lease or leases is to provide for the construction of the Project. If a valid petition pursuant to IC. 6-1.1.-20-3.5 is received by the School Corporation, the proposed debt service or lease payments must be approved in an election on a local public question held under IC 6-1.1-20-3.6.

    Dated July 9, 2008.

    Christopher A. Kiefer Secretary, Board of School Trustees
    Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    This was just nine (9) years ago that the EVSC went on this building spree. Since then the EVSC has started construction on another elementary school, and just purchased a 135 acre golf course for $3. Million ” for future construction”. This is not an operation to “educate children”, it is a cash cow for the local business establishment!

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